>> Friday, February 19, 2016

By Aiza Namingit

Most Cordillera officials are supporting the tandem of presidential and
vice presidential candidates Mar Roxas and LeniRobredo respectively.

This wazs bared by Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat who said as the national
campaign for the presidential elections begins, the Liberal Party is confident
it has won the support of the provinces comprising the Cordillera
Administrative Region and will deliver votes in favor of the administration ticket
led by Roxas and Robredo.

Baguilat, regional chair for Liberal Party in CAR, expressed confidence
that the administration party “will do much better” in the elections this year
compared to the 2013 elections.

“In politics, it is not wise to guarantee victory, but I do
believe we have a stronger chance of winning the region than the other
parties,” said Baguilat, who is running for his third term as representative of
the lone district of Ifugao.

He said in Ifugao alone, eight of the 11 mayors are allied with
the Liberal Party, and it is the only party with a complete lineup for the
local elections, from the district representative down to the town councilors.

In the region, two incumbent LP officials are running unopposed –
Max Dalog of Mt Province and Elias Bulut Jr. of Apayao. They both pledged to
“work hard” for a Mar-Leni victory in their areas, said Baguilat.

Meanwhile, Rep. Manny Agyao and Gov. JoselBaac are both LP members
and will lead the party in Kalinga.

"Almost all incumbent officials are with LP and they are the
heavyweights in their respective bailiwicks," he added.

He also stressed that the Mar-Leni bandwagon is not exclusively LP
as even those who are independent and from different parties are supporting the
administration tandem.

In Abra, while the Bernos-Valera and Bersamin clans are facing off
this time, they are both supporting the Mar-Leni tandem.

The same is true in Benguet where Gov. Nestor Fongwan of NUP and
Rep. Ronnie Cosalan of LP are administration supporters.

Baguilat said that they are working to get retired Judge Del
Claraval, running as independent mayoralty candidate in Baguio City and
independent candidate Gov. Leonard Mayaen of Mt Province, to support the LP
ticket.

“Our volunteers are in place and we will start the national
campaign with a bang,” said Baguilat.

The Ifugao solon said they are not going to be complacent even
with many incumbents on their side and will monitor the commitments of our
party mates till the end game.

But he's confident that they will remain loyal because of the many
development programs that the Aquino administration has brought to Cordillera
such as the concreting of major roads and construction of irrigation systems.

We are proud of our Northern heritage. But we are also a very grateful
people and it will be manifested in the May elections."